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If you thought Canada’s approval of China’s biggest overseas energy acquisition, the $15.1 billion takeover by state-owned CNOOC of local oil and gas producer Nexen was big, think again.

The Communist giant’s newly issued passports show a regional map on Page 8 with China laying claim to almost the entire area covered by the South China Sea.

Now THAT’S a big takeover and they achieved it without spending a single yuan.

On paper at least. Simply issuing a passport claiming an area stretching from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around 3,500,000 square-kilometers is quite different from enforcing that ambition.

It is also something that is bound to upset the neighbours, especially when the Chinese government announced it would begin enforcing new rules, starting Jan. 1, that will have Chinese naval patrols escorting, or expelling, foreign ships from most of the South China Sea.

The Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Brunei and Vietnam have all jointly spoken up and said that international law does not recognize China’s claim.

India and the United States agreed they will not obey Chinese directions in the area and expect their warships to move unmolested through the South China Sea in 2013.

If they do decide to test China’s resolve, they can expect to be met by elements of the latter’s increasingly confident navy.

China commissioned its first aircraft carrier in September and began test flights of its first models of the J-15 stealth fighter, one of which successfully landed on the flight deck of the new Shi Lang on November 25.

“An aircraft carrier is a symbol of the power of our navy,” Xu Guangyo, a retired senior Chinese general told the BBC at the carrier’s commissioning.

“It’s also a symbol of deterrence. It’s like saying, ‘Don’t mess with me. Don’t think you can bully me.’ ”

China is keen to show it is not for turning when it comes to displaying its newfound military prowess, despite the increasing weight of world opinion lining up against it.

Just ask the Philippine government. It is furious at China for reneging on an agreement to withdraw its warships from Scarborough Shoal (which, according to international law, is Filipino).

Both countries agreed to withdraw their warships from the shoal 12 months ago but three Chinese ships remain. The Chinese keep offering excuses for just why the ships remain and confirm they show no sign of departing anytime soon.

Possession is nine-tenths of the law after all.

Those underlying tensions across Asia were further exacerbated Tuesday when North Korea decided it was going to show some military muscle of its own.

The rogue regime fired a long-range rocket into space, defying international warnings and taking another step towards developing a nuclear missile capability.

While the stated purpose was to put a weather satellite into orbit, the three-stage rocket’s deployment demonstrates the nation’s ability to send a nuclear warhead as far as California and south to the remote city of Darwin at the top end of Australia.

That one missile, which overflew Japan during flight, has raised the stakes in the international standoff over North Korea’s expanding atomic arsenal and drawn a host of countries to object, not that North Korea appears worried.

“The satellite has entered the planned orbit,” a North Korean television newsreader benignly announced, after which the station played patriotic songs with the lyrics “Chosun (Korea) does what it says.”

Canada’s Foreign Minister John Baird was quick to join the global chorus of condemnation for the North’s actions, saying it “clearly demonstrate its willful defiance of its international obligations.”

In a statement issued late Tuesday, Baird added that the North Korean regime is an increasing threat to Asian regional stability.

“Pyongyang is a grave threat to the security and stability of the region and beyond,” Mr. Baird said.

“With this latest launch, the rogue regime has once again shown total disregard for its people by choosing to fund military and nuclear programs while the basic needs of the North Korean people go unmet.

“Canada stands with the international community in condemning this reprehensible act.”